Business and economics |

Taxpayer asks:
Hi Kelly!

I’m so glad to have found your site - what a great service for all of us! My question is in regards to the 1099-MISC form. I am a small business owner and received a 1099 form for a December 2007 sale however the company did not pay until January 2008. Do I report that as income for 2007 (even though I did not receive any funds until 2008?).

Thanks so much for your help - going to be checking out your site all the time now!!

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Voting and paying taxes are still hand in hand. The IRS has admitted that it has collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states, while vowing that it has never used the information. This, of course, begs the question “why do it?”

The states for which political party affiliation data were collected are Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. In these states, voters must register as a member of a party and this information is publicly available.

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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

A conversation started this weekend about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I promised to continue it, but before I do, some background might help. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator outlines our preferences for four categories of focus:

Favorite World: Introvert or Extrovert — Do you prefer to focus on your inner world, or do you prefer to focus on the outer world?

Information: Sensing or Intuitiion — Do you prefer to focus on basic information, or do you prefer to focus on adding value and interpretation?

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Taxpayer asks:
I left my job as an editor at a media company, but continue to do some freelance work for them. When I submitted an invoice, I was told that for tax purposes I couldn’t be paid by them as an independent contractor in the same year that I was an employee. This means those invoices have 45% taken out for withholding taxes, which I assume means they were treated like bonus checks. But they weren’t bonuses, they were my income, and now come tax time, I’m not sure how to account for this on my Schedule C. I don’t know anyone else who has run into this problem–is their policy legitimate or are they just trying to make my life difficult?

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Remember 527 organizations?

They made headlines in the presidential organization when a group of organized Republicans funded “Swift Boats for Truth” to launch a missive against Senator Kerry.

527 organizations are named after 26 U.S.C. 527 - basically section 527 of the Tax Code (the Tax Code is Title 26). Generally, tax exempt organizations are not allowed to participate in significant political activities (remember the hullaboo over Huckabee). However, 527 organizations have as their purpose to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. They are also not regulated by the Federal Election Commission and are not subject to the same contribution limits as PACs. One of the few regulations is that they may not be governed by candidates or committees affiliated with candidates.

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It’s another day at an excellent 21st Century Academy Seminar. This time I’m in Auckland at the Internet & Business Mastery Seminar. Last week Perth – Australia was the venue. After a 6 hour flight and 5 hours of time difference, I’m in New Zealand enjoying the hospitality of our great neighbours. Once again, I am pleasantly exposed to the teachings of Jamie McIntyre and learning about Financial Success in the 21st Century.

21st Century Academy

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Once thing that has changed over the last 5 years is the growth and replacement of the CRT monitor. LCD monitors have completely replaced CRTs with new computer shipments. This means a design change for website owners since LCD have a different aspect ratio.

The traditional CRT monitor has 4:3 (ratio of horizontal to vertical measurement). Most LCDs have an aspect ratio of 16:9. This means that they are wider than they are tall to a greater extent than CRTs. It's painfully apparent that most commercial web sites are designed around a 4:3 aspect ratio and furthermore don't take advantage of the basic design principles to utilize as much screen real estate as possible. The current Thalasar.com design isn't as flexible as it should be in this case. Site designs when possible should be flexible to accomodate. Amazon uses 100% of the screen real estate while Cnn.com does not. As LCDs continue to replace CRTs, designers should make sure their designs look good in the "wide screen" format.

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When I Fired My Boss, approximately 21 months ago, my first thought was on my immediate financial future. I was elated and overwhelmed with the fact that I had acheived my 2 year goal of replacing my income through investing. The strategies I learnt through the DVD with Jamie McIntyre certainly started me off and gave me the urgency to take immediate action. The one strategy that really stood out was: Renting Shares.

Renting Shares like a Sharelord

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I’ve received a ton of complaints about the size of the rebate checks once actually in hand. Apparently, a number of folks have not received the anticipated amount…

Be sure and check out this list of why your rebate might be less than anticipated and give the IRS tax rebate calculator a whirl.

To date, the most common mistakes in figuring the rebate that I’ve heard deal with gross income and tax liability. Remember, if you make too much or pay too little in tax, you might not be eligible for the full amount.

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How much the FED will cut its rate this week?

Posted on April 29, 2008
Filed Under Forex News |

With the current US battling economy, FED is highly likely to bump down its key interest rate again.

The market is confident that Federal Reserve will only lower its interest rates by 25 basis point on Wednesday. However, many analysts also believe that this rate cuts may turn out be the last one for the near term as the FED is fighting double digit inflation with the continual rise of energy and food prices.

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